Poking fun won’t solve problems

Hearing the news that the Minnesota Legislature, in an attempt to get needed repairs done to their Capitol building, made fun of North Dakota’s Capitol building made me laugh. It is like two guys getting thrown from their boat, one with a life jacket and one without. As he is drowning, the non-life- jacket wearer makes fun of the other guy’s “ugly” life jacket. Or when you do something stupid and to distract from your situation you tell someone he has an ugly tie. Get real – you can’t take this seriously.

In reality, I have always thought of our Capitol as unique. Yes, I know it is a building designed for Chicago, and some say rejected by Chicago. But I like our building. It doesn’t look pompous from the outside. It is rather plain and tall, simple and functional, just like North Dakotans.

It also bears a tremendous amount of symbolism. Seen from the front it reminds me of two things. The first is a giant grain elevator. What better symbolism for the bread basket of the world than a huge grain elevator? And I am not saying that tongue-in-cheek; I truly think it is great.

The second symbolism I see is two people (the people of North Dakota) standing together, each with his arm around the other’s shoulder – partners working together in a cooperative spirit. Sure beats an upside-down concrete basket like some other states have.

Good luck to Minnesota, but making fun of North Dakota will not solve your woes.